The editor of the S.F. Chronicle, Phil Bronstein, may be leaving San Francisco soon. The problem is that the newspaper is bleeding red ink badly.
The S.F. Chronicle circulation is a fiction. Publicly reported circulation is 450,000; the reality is that that number is an exaggerated figure even for the Sunday edition. The weekday edition is closer to 150,000 and falling.
We have a free daily in San Francisco, the Examiner; in tabloid shape. My guess is that the free Examiner has the same circulation as the 50-cent a copy Chronicle; both have similar advertising revenue but the Examiner has a fraction of the production cost and almost no staff.
The end of the Chronicle has much to do with Craig’s List, the Internet exchange site that has taken away the Chronicle classified advertising.
The Chronicles demise also has to do with the unpleasant Lefty political bias that is in every story. Many people are getting fed up with blatant political bias these days. It seems mean spirited. Maybe New Yorkers can stomach a heavily biased newspaper, San Franciscans and Angelinos can’t.